Stacking mechanism for wrapped articles



y 1956 A. SERAGNOLI 2,744,369

STACKING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPED ARTICLES Filed April 15, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR A ios Sera noli ATTORNEY May 8, 1956 A. SERAGNOLI 2,744,369

STACKING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPED ARTICLES Filed April 15, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Ariosto Seragnoli ATTORNEY United States Patent STACKING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPED ARTICLES Ariosto Seragnoli, Bologna, Italy Application April 15, 1952, Serial No. 282,302

3 Claims. (Cl. 53-159) This invention refers to a stacking mechanism for wrapped articles cooperating with a wrapping machine, to achieve the stacking of said wrapped articles in a vertical stack in which the upper articles press upon those which are underneath, thus keeping tight the folds of the Wrapper and insuring the adhesion of the glued wrappers. By this technique the wrapped articles need not slide on guides, as it usually happens in wrapping machines, and furthermore the ordered manual removal of entire stacks of wrapped articles is made possible. At the same time, the mechanism cooperates with the wrapping machine by closing an open flap of the wrapper, causing the sheet of wrapping material to tightly Wrap the article.

The construction and operation and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following description taken together with the drawings, which are an integral part thereof, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a section taken in plane M-M of Fig. 1, projected downwards;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section similar to Fig. l, but in a later phase of operation of the mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a section of the mechanism taken in the plane NN of Fig. 3, projected downwards.

The mechanism comprises toothed grasping members 61, for grasping wrapped article 1 on a Wrapping machine with a sheet of wrapping material 63, and for holding said article and its wrapper; a vertically extending magazine 67 for containing the wrapped articles in stacked position 69; a grill-like article-supporting member 66 underneath said magazine; hook-like engaging members 70 for engaging and lifting the wrapped article together with the entire stack of articles into stacked position.

The mechanism comprises also means 92 (see Fig. 2) guided by frame 94 of the mechanism for moving forward and backward the grasping members 61; means 93 (see Fig. 1) guided in said frame 94, for raising and lowering the vertically extending magazine 67; in the preferred manner of accomplishment described in this specification, the mechanism comprises also spring'means 95 to keep the engaging members 70 closed against the articles in stacked position 69, and finally cooperates with the folding device 64 of the wrapping machine and with the parts of said wrapping machine which bring the wrapped article to the stacking mechanism; these last parts being not shown.

The operation of the invention is as follows:

The wrapped article 1 is brought to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by means of the wrapping machine, not shown. Consecutively, the grasping members 61 approach each other, seizing the article and wrapper and holding them on the front and rear sides (referred to hereafter) by means of teeth 96 which form a comb-like member and are arranged in such a Way that the engaging member 70 of the vertical magazine 67 can pass into them when the magazine comes down to seize and raise into stacked position the wrapped article 1.

The folding device 64 keeps one flap of the wrapper ICE folded under the article and sustains both the article and its wrapper. Afterwards, the grasping members 61, holding the article and its wrapper both come forward, moved by means 92, under the vertically extending magazine 67, where they stop still holding the article and its wrapper, in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4; the folding device 64 accompanies and sustains both the article and its wrapper during the first part of this displacement, then it stops while the open flap of the Wrapper slides against the corner of the article-supporting member 66 and is folded to cover the already folded flap, and the" article and its wrapper are sustained by said supporting member.

Consecutively, magazine 67, moved by means 93, comes down from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 3, so that the stacked articles 69 contained in the vertical magazine alight on the finally wrapped article 1, and the engaging members 70 passing on the edges of the wrapped article 1, close under it, thus engaging it.

Consecutively, grasping members 61 move away from each other, releasing the wrapped article by withdrawing from it and the vertical magazine 67, moved by means 93, goes back to the position shown in Fig. 1, lifting both the wrapped article 1 and the superposed stacked articles Consecutively, grasping members 61 and folding device 64 return to their original position to receive from the wrapping machine another wrapped article, the open flap of which is closed as it moves to the position for stacking under the vertical magazine.

In a modification of the invention, grasping members 61 have small protrusions 62 to sustain article 1 from the underside thereof, as shown in Fig. 1.

While the invention is subject to various modifications and alternate constructions, the manner of accomplishment shown in the figures and described in the text refer to preferred manners of accomplishment andare shown for illustrative purpose only, it being understood that the invention is not limited to these nor by these, but it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate constructions entering into the spirit and the scope of the invention and of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A mechanism for stacking wrapped articles which comprises toothed grasping means for laterally holding an article and wrapper; a vertically extending magazine for containing the wrapped articles in stacked position; grill-like article-supporting means underneath the magazine; means for transporting the grasping means with the laterally held article and wrapper to a position underneath the magazine; means for releasing the stacked articles down upon the laterally held wrapped article; hook-like engaging means passing into the toothed members and the grill-like member for engaging the underside of the supported wrapped article and lifting the wrapped article together with the entire stack of articles into stacked position.

2. The mechanism of claim 1 for use with a wrapped article having an open flap wherein the grill-like supporting means is provided with a folding corner for closing the open flap of the wrapped article as it is transported by the toothed grasping means to the position underneath the magazine.

3. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein the toothed member is provided with a small protrusion for supporting the wrapped article from the underside.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,006,081 Giroud Oct. 17, 1911 (Other references on following page) 3 UNITED STATES PATENTS Chambon Dec. 26, 1916 Parker Jan. 28, 1919 Peder'sen June 15, 1920 Candee Aug. 15, 1922 Webster Mar. 23, 1926 Chandler 7Aug. 2, 1927 Neif Dec. 26, 1933 Rapisarda Jan. 21, 1936 4 Gardner Aug. 21, 1945 Hallead Feb. 14, 1950 Dalziel et a1.] Feb. 21, 1950 Kunkler Ian. 16, 1951 Townsend May 13, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Aug. 18, 1909 

